Articulation Errors

Articulation: emphasis the motor component of speech. Articulation disorders can be classified as functional or organic.

  • Functional: is evident when there is no pathology causing the errors in speech. These children usually present with adequate hearing and intellectual ability.
  • Organic Disorders: these result from a known physical cause such as a cleft palateneurological function or hearing impairment. Some children may demonstrate both functional and organic deficits.

The Four Distinct Types Of Articulation Errors

There are four notable types of articulation errors.  These are commonly known as the SODA acronym.

S – Substitutions

A substitution occurs when a child replaces one sound with another sound. For example, they will replace the ‘r’ in ‘red’ for a ‘w’ sound, resulting in them pronouncing red as wed.

O – Omissions

An omission occurs when a child choose to omit (or leave out) a certain sound fro a word. This can cause intelligibility problems in their speech. For example, a child may say “Look! A ed ake!” when what they meant to say was “Look! A red snake!”

D – Distortions

A distortion error occurs when a child makes a certain sound in a particular way. For example, they may pronounce an ‘s’ as a ‘sh’ sound. Hence, instead of them saying “Sunday school” they will say “shunday shchool”

A – Additions

An addition occurs when a child adds an unnecessary sound to a word. For example, them may pronounce the word ‘black’ as ‘buhlack’.

Treating Articulation Errors

If your child or someone you know is suffering from articulation errors, the Speechworx team is here to help! Be sure to get in touch with us now and see how we will be able to help you!